Issue 288 – Praise for Frome musician’s Ethiopian project

A Frome musician is behind a critically acclaimed new album which fuses several genres of music with typical African music.

The album, called ‘Punt’, is the work of Frome man, Dan Harper, who has been working with other highly regarded musicians, collaborating under the name Invisible System.
The album has already been well received by music critics. The Financial Times recently gave it five stars, The Guardian has described it as “an impressive achievement”, and it has also received great reviews from Mojo, and The Independent, amongst others.
Much of the inspiration for the CD came from Dan’s own time spent in Africa as an aid worker.
The guests on the album range from Hilaire Chabby (from Baba Maal), The Ozric Tentacles, Captain Sensible, Zion Train and Baka Beyond. Dan said, “Other guests on the album include other Ethiopians, all of whom I discovered aid working in the country with my studio in tow (half of which subsequently went on to be Dub Colossus following my invitation to Nick Page to come out and work with me).”
Dub Colossus, a separate project of Dan’s which was undertaken during his time in Africa, was a collaboration between the British dub reggae enthusiast, producer and guitarist/bass player Nick Page, better known simply as Dubullah, and a diverse group of Ethiopian musicians.
Dan has set up his own record label, Harper Diabate Records, on which he has released the new album. The record label is a not-for-profit venture, aiming to raise funds for aid in Africa.
“It is a very original album and style generating much attention even from people who usually listen to more traditional world music. We got great feedback from the BBC at Womad earlier in the year, and much radio exposure recently including BBC’s Late Junction, World Service, BBC Asian Network, Radio New Zealand (with a full interview) and many stations in the USA.
Punt is available to buy on all mainstream online CD retailers including Amazon, cdbaby.com, and itunes. For more information on Invisible System log on to the band’s own webpage at www.myspace.com/invisiblesystem.